Smackdown

If you feel like it, take the time to listen to yesterday's Fresh Air, which featured an interview with Ronald Reagan, Jr. To me, this interview highlights a phenomenon that the mainstream press seems to be trying its best to avoid talking about--erstwhile conservatives abandoning the listing and leaking Bush ship (which might have something to do with the iceberg known as Iraq that Cap'n Bush steamed headlong into).

Reagan, Jr. will be speaking at the Democratic Convention (on Tuesday, I think). His chosen topic is stem cell research, and the interview covers both the topic and the inevitable questions as to whether or not he is being "used" by the party (Reagan's response was "yes," but, at the same time, he's using them because he has a national audience to advocate a cause he feels strongly about).

However, Terry Gross gives Reagan plenty of time to deliver his opinion of George W. Bush--and Ron Jr. offers some king sized dissing--for example, four years ago he considered Bush to be "unqualified" for the office, when asked if he still believed that, his answer was unequivocatingly in the affirmative. While suggesting that we look at his entire statement in context, he nonetheless stood by something else that he wrote four years ago, namely, that Bush's greatest "accomplishment" prior to his election was getting on the wagon--not really something you really tout as a "record." Reagan also offers a solid criticism of the Iraqi misadventure.

Years ago, the SCLM waxed eloquently about the Reagan Democrats (who morphed into the Blue Dog Democrats), etc. But for some reason, it seems like they're afraid to even consider the notion that some conservatives see decidedly non-conservative patterns in the Bush administration, be it either shockingly large deficits, preemptive military interventions, a willingness to stomp on civil liberties, and so on. Combined with a deep contempt for the democratic process, these people have come to the conclusion that the United States should not become a banana republic as a response to fears of terrorism.